Who are Your People?

“This work is so important. Community X has to come, it speaks to them.”

“Everyone” is not a target market. “Everyone” is not a demographic. Fun for the whole family rarely is. When I worked at TO TIX I once told a family of four that Mom, Dad and the younger sibling should go ahead to Medieval Times, and leave the 15-year-old in the hotel room to watch movies. It was a satisfactory compromise to all.

Cultural background does not translate to enjoyment of art, and does not automatically lead to engagement with your company. (If it did I would live on a steady theatre diet of Tremblay and Shakespeare, with some Group of Seven thrown in for good measure.)

Who loves you for who you are and what you do? Who will come because of what you do, how you do it and that you’ve consistently done this for and with them X number of times?

Who do you work with who become your people, and therefore their people become yours as well?

Who believes in the work? Who believes in you? And where do those two beliefs cross over?